who knew...

Every Saturday and Sunday i am glued to the television watching as much football as i can. I think I know as much as the guys and gals who are getting paid to do what they do and i am often asking myself, "who Knew"? Let me give you an example, Who knew that Jay Cutler would be a franchise quarterback based on his college career? Vanderbilt won like 10 games in his entire career there and somehow that got him to be a 1st round draft pick. I watched him play twice his last year at college and he threw as many interceptions as completions in a the games. Yet he is a multi-million dollar quarterback and he has developed into a star. Some of my favorite who knew people are Ryan Leaf, Emmit Smith, Eli Manning, Steve Emtman, Jerry Rice and of course Lawrence Taylor. All of these for different reasons. Leaf and Emtmann for the short careers that they had. Rice, Smith and Taylor for really not having amazing college resumes and becoming the greatest layers of their positions of all time. Eli for winning a Super Bowl so early in his career showing ability that i never saw in college. Emtmann was going to revolutionize the game. He could not be blocked in college at all. So my million dollar question is how do these scouts and personnel people know what they are seeing out there. Is it experience or is it a lucky draw.
I can give several examples of players who were nobody in college and somehow someway are stars in the pros. Tom Brady was a 6th round pick by the Patriots and has 3 rings on his finger.The number 1 draft pick that year was Courtney Brown... He was a great college player from Penn St. and has had a sad career playing in Cleveland. How about Terrell Davis another 6th round pick? Ki-Jana Carter was the first running back selected. He got injured on the first hand off of his pro career and bounced around the league after that. I am not taking shots at the higher drafted player, I am just wondering why don't the people we expect to be stars in the pros pan out to be stars. The New Orleans Saints has Reggie Bush on their team. He has more highlight plays in college than anyone i have ever seen. He is on the field less than 45 percent of the times that the saints have the ball. Kurt Warner is going to the Hall of Fame. He went from being a bagger at a local super market to the Super Bowl. He wasn't drafted. In1994, Heath Shuler and Trent Dilfer was drafted. Dilfer won a super Bowl but not as the star but as a game manager for the Ravens. Shuler made a lot of money and never amounted to much as a Redskin. Now he is politician.
What has had gotten me on this rant is everyday I keep hearing about the upcoming draft and where these future stars are going to end up. When i see guys like Tony Romo, Joe Flacco, Ryan Fitzpatrick leading NFL teams it makes me wonder about where do these scouts find the talent. It seems like it is bad to play on a winning college team. Matt Leinart was a god in college and so was Vince Young. They are now cheerleaders. Drew Brees and Kyle Orton were great in college but did not have any signature wins. Some one please explain the formula to me.... Peyton Manning is an aberration. Brett Favre had one great win over Florida St. Now he is the statistical greatest quarter back of all time. Matt Ryan was good in college... is he the next star... who knew..